Ball-bearing.



S. SCHNEIDER.

BALL BEARING.

APPLICATION TILED SEPT. 9, 1912.

1,061,636, Patented May13,1913.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

STEFAN SCHNEIDER, OF PARK, ILLINOIS.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, STEFAN SCHNEIDER,

- a subject of the Em erorof Germany, re-

sidin at Oak'Park, 1n the county of Cook and tate of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Ball-Bearings,

. of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the rotatable cage-like retainer for the balls in a ball-bearing, formed, as by stamping outtof sheet-metal, in one piece, whereby the spacers are provided in pairs composed of opposite members presenting mere attenuate edges to the balls to reduce friction to the minimum.

In the accompanying, drawing, Figure 1' p is a plan view of a ball-bearing embodyingv my i'mprovementfFig. 2 is a section on line 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3'is a face view'of the an nular retainer; Fig. 4 is a section on line 4, Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is an enlarged view showing a ball, in elevation, confined between the opposing edges of the spacers presented to it; Fig. 6 is a plan View, of the sheet-metal blank from which the retainer is formed;

. Fig. 7 is a side view of a suitable implei but narrower inwardly-projecting tongues 12 registering with the outer tongues. Each tongue is shown to be slightly chamf ered at 13, on the opposite-edges of its under or head w portion, for the purpose hereinafterspxplained. Striking up this blank forms the annular retainer 9 with a'circular base 9 and the tongues extending at right-angles to it inpairs forming resilient spacers 14 for the balls 15, to which they present their attenuate concave edges for confining the balls, thereby reducing friction to the mini- The ball-race is formed, in a usual manner,-in.a casing 16 composed of an outer ring 17, containing an internal circumferential groove 17, and an inner ring 18 containing an external circumferential groove 18, the

1 rings being concentric and .so held by the BALL-BEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application tiled September 9, v1912. Serial No. 719,383.

from to free the balls as'when a ba balls 15 in the race formed by the opposinggrooves. With the ball-bearing in this con- Patented May 13,1913.

'dition, to maintain the balls in their properly spaced relation in rotating; the retainer, WlllCll fits as-an annulus rotatably in the space between the casing-members 17 and 18, is placed into operative position by a plying it in a manner to-register the ends of each pair of the spacers 14 with the space between two balls, when the spacers will encounter the adjacent surfaces of the balls to a slight extent. By then forcing the annular retainer-body into place, the resilient spacer-members will be sprung over the aforesaid ball-surfaces, thereby bringin the spacers into the position relative to the alls shown of the ball represented in Fig. 5, wherein it is retained, for free rotation, under approximately circular confinement between the concave spacer-edges presented to it. The chamferededges 13 of the spacers, bytheir wedging action against the balls in introducing the retainer in place, facilitate the operation; and when the spacers have been sprung past the balls, they resume by resiliency their normal condition to enhance their ball-confining action in fitting uniformly about the balls near opposite sides of the space between the casing-members. In the free rotation of the retainer, the balls, rotating in their spacer-confinements 'are, as are also the spacers, subjected to a degree of wear which is practically negligible, be-

cause the frictional surfaces of the spaceredges presented to the balls are so attenuate. The salient advantage of my improvement, however, lies in the construction adapting the opposing inner and outer tongues 14 tobe resiliently spread apart by the balls when confined in their casing,

either in originally appl in the annular re-' h r th re-' beco es tainer to the latter or wit awing damaged requiring replacement thereof by a per ect one. These operations are materially facilitated by the chamfered edges 13 of the tongues, since they adapt the balls, in

forcing the retainer into place and withdrawing it, to act wedgin ly against the re silient tongues to spread t em apart.

The'implement 19 shown in Figs. 7 and 8,

is provided as a convenient and effective a means for dislodging the retainer when it is desired to take the ball-bearing apart. It is a metal strip, preferably steel, provided with a row of teeth at uniform intervals apart its teeth 20 into the space between the casing-forming rings. To use the implement for its purpose, its teeth 20 are inserted into that space, from the side of thecasing opposite that at which the retainer is inserted, in

a manner to introduce each tooth between the members forming-a spacer 14, and to abut at their ends against the inner surface casing having balls rotatably confined there-i of the retainer-forming ring; when a more or less slight blow, with the hand, against the annular body of the implement j will cause it to dislodge the retainer by springing its resilient spacer-forming members outwardly past the balls.

I realize that considerable variation is possible-in the details of'const-ruction of the retainer-herein shown and described, and I- do not intend by illustrating a single, specific or preferred form to limit my invention thereto, my intention being in the following claims to claim protection upon all the novelt-y there may be in my' improved device as broadly as the state of the .art Will'permit.

\Vhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is 4

1. In a ball-bearing, the combination of a casing having balls rotatably confined therein, and a 'freely floating retainer com.-

prising an annulus with aseries of resilient tongues extending at intervzfls from its outer edge, and a series of resilient tongues ex tending from its inner edge, formlng palrs presenting concaved edges {to l successive -balls, such edges extending to a point he be sprung apart by the ballswhen such balls pass between the same, whereby the retainer maybe applied to and withdrawn fromthe ballswhile the latter are in place inth'e casing.

2; In a ball-bearing, the combination of a pairs presenting concaved edges to suck cessive balls, such edges extendingvto' a point apart, said pair forming resilient tongues being parallel to each other and extending at .beyond the 'rotative axes of said balls to suse pend such container and space such balls" right angles to the annulus and adapted to be sprung'apart by the balls when such balls pass between"t-he same, saidpair forming resilient tongues having the innenfaces of their edge portion chamfer'ed near their. ends to exert a wedging action against the balls in placing the retainer in position, whereby the retainer may be applied to and with-; drawn from the balls while the latter are in place in the casing;

- STEFAN SCHNEIDER. In presence of-- a .L. HEISLAR,

E, D. STEELE. 

